Day: May 16, 2013

Arts and crafts retail chain, Hobby Lobby, opened a new store on Tamiami Trail in Sarasota on Thursday.

The 56,267-square-foot store in the former Kmart space in the Beneva Pointe shopping center at 8195 S. Tamiami Trail will host a grand opening celebration on Monday, May 20. The Benderson Development-owned plaza underwent a complete renovation while Hobby Lobby was under construction, adding new store facades and landscaping. Other plaza tenants include office supply chain, Staples, and a Pizza Hut.

The store opened quietly on Thursday. The chain expects to open a second Southwest Florida location in Bradenton in a former Big Lots store in the Pinebrook Square shopping center, on Cortez Road. The store is scheduled to open May 24.

Hobby Lobby opened its first Southwest Florida location in Benderson’s Cocoplum Village Shops in North Port last September.

Store hours are Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. All Hobby Lobby stores are closed on Sunday.

Photo by Dan Wagner, Herald-Tribune staff.

For more shopping news in Southwest Florida, follow reporter Justine Griffin on Twitter and Facebook or email her at justine.griffin@heraldtribune.com. Read What’s In Store in print on Tuesdays.

Wawa, a Pennsylvania-based convenience store chain, is one step closer to opening its first location south of Tampa Bay after a Bradenton planning commission approved its permit request Wednesday.

The gas station and convenience store chain has been aggressively expanding throughout Florida, with plans to open a dozen stores in the Orlando and Tampa markets in 2012 and into this year. Wawa is known for its cheap gas and restaurant-quality sandwich bar, fresh salads, breakfast bowls, signature coffees and smoothies, among other items not commonly seen at most major convenience stores.

The stores still carry traditional convenience store goods too, such as drinks, snacks and cigarettes.

Wawa submitted an application to the city of Bradenton on April 15 looking to build on the site of a former Eckerd Drugs store at 4455 State Road 64 in Bradenton, said Brady Woods, development services and zoning manager with the city of Bradenton. The planning commission approved the permit request, and now it is up to the Bradenton City Council to approve it.

Most Wawa locations range in size from 5,600 to 6,000 square feet.The company has locations in New Jersey Maryland, Virginia, Delaware and Pennsylvania. The first Florida store opened in Orlando, and there are more than two dozen other stores in the works in Central Florida. Tampa too has several locations in the planning stages.

No announcements have been made about opening a Sarasota location yet.

Photo by Red Huber, Orlando Sentinel.

For more shopping news in Southwest Florida, follow reporter Justine Griffin on Twitter and Facebook or email her at justine.griffin@heraldtribune.com. Read What’s In Store in print on Tuesdays.